Animal containers have been widely used in the market for an extensive period of time for protecting animals especially during shipment and handling and for protecting the animals while in a public place. For the most part, such animal containers are not collapsible, and when not in use, constitute a problem from the standpoint of storage. During transportation of animal carriers while not containing animals, such animal carriers obviously take up a lot of space which must be accommodated for during shipment, handling and storage of the containers. It is desirable, therefore to provide an animal carrier structure which is capable of safely and efficiently containing an animal and which is also capable of being simply and efficiently being reduced to a one piece, relatively flat structure for the purpose of efficient handling and storage when not being used to contain and protect animals.
Collapsible animal carriers have been developed for a substantial period of time as evidenced by U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,079,458 of Leightfuss, 2,530,148 of Bjorklund, et al. and 2,560,089 of Cottingham. Various collapsible animal kennels or containers are also evidenced by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,048,147 of McKean and 3,611,994 of Bailey et al. For the most part these collapsible animal carriers are of complex construction and though some of them are collapsible to a rather small form for storage, nevertheless, they have disadvantages that render them relatively unacceptable from the standpoint of marketing. In some cases, the collapsible containers, when fully assembled have very little structural integrity. In the case of animal carriers, it is necessary that they be capable of withstanding a significant amount of weight because during shipping, other packages or containers may be stacked thereon. Additionally, during shifting of loads as the result of transportation, other packages may fall on these containers which could cause them to collapse to the detriment of the animal contained therein. It has been almost impossible to provide a collapsible animal carrier that is of simple, light weight construction and yet capable of achieving the degree of structural integrity that is required for shipment and handling of the same. It is desirable, therefore, to provide a collapsible carrying container for animals that is of light weight construction, which folds easily and simply to a rather thin and easily stored condition and which, when assembled, is capable of withstanding considerable weight for protection of the animal inside.